Japanese Imperial Navy Ship Yamato

The Yamato class battleship carried the largest naval artillery ever fitted to a warship, nine 460-millimeter (18.1 in) naval guns, each capable of firing 1,460 kg (3,220 lb) shells over 42 km (26 mi). Two battleships of the class (Yamato and Musashi) were completed, while a third (Shinano) was converted to an aircraft carrier during construction.

The Yamato was sunk on April 7, 1945, during a suicide attempt to attack the U.S. fleet during the Battle for Okinawa.

Yamato was designed as the embodiment of Imperial power and glory. Ironically in its death throes, it became the funeral pyre of the Japanese Navy.